Premier League champions Leicester will turn their attentions to the FA Cup this evening when they host Derby in a fourth round replay (7.45pm kick-off).

The two sides produced an entertaining 2-2 draw at the iPro Stadium back on January 27, with Wes Morgan’s late header salvaging a replay for the Foxes after goals from Darren Bent, who had earlier scored a bizarre own goal, and Craig Bryson put Steve McClaren’s men ahead.

However, both sides go into tonight’s clash having lost their last league game, with Leicester going down 3-0 at home to Manchester United to leave them 16th in the Premier League, and just a point clear of the bottom three.

Derby on the other hand battled but lost 1-0 at Championship leaders Newcastle United on Saturday, which leaves them in eighth place and two points off the top six.

Yet, both teams can put their recent league disappointments behind them at the King Power Stadium this evening, as a trip to Millwall in the fifth round is up for grabs for whichever side comes out on top tonight.

In what should be an entertaining encounter this evening, we’ve analysed the THREE key battles that could go someway to determining the outcome at the King Power Stadium…

Shinji Okazaki vs Alex Pearce

Neither man particularly shone in the first match between these two sides, but the battle between Alex Pearce and Shinji Okazaki will be crucial to determining the outcome on Wednesday night.

The Leicester striker hasn’t scored in any of his last 11 appearances for the Foxes, dating back to their 2-1 defeat to Sunderland on December 3, although he’s only started six of those subsequent games.

Nonetheless, his tireless work-rate and energy will give Rams centre-back Pearce some issues at the King Power Stadium on Wednesday.

The Republic of Ireland international has been a regular starter in the side since McClaren took over back in October, and has performed well at the back alongside Richard Keogh.

Both men were reasonably solid in the first game against the Foxes, although there were a few occasions where both Okazaki and Jamie Vardy got through and had chances to net.

Okazaki was particularly guilty of key misses in the second half, so Pearce will have to snuff out the danger early as his lack of pace will give the Leicester man a key advantage.

Danny Drinkwater vs Craig Bryson

Danny Drinkwater has been one of many Leicester players who have underperformed this season, which goes to show how crucial N’Golo Kante was to the Foxes side last term.

26-year-old Drinkwater, who won three caps for England in 2016, once again struggled in the middle in their 3-0 defeat at home to Manchester United last weekend, although was arguably the Foxes’ best player against the Rams last time out.

He dominated the midfield for much of the first half, although they did go in at half-time behind, yet it was he who was trying to orchestrate things in the second period as they pressed for an equaliser.

Nonetheless, his opposite number Craig Bryson produced a man-of-the-match display to both outgun Drinkwater and indeed secure a deserved replay for Derby.

It was the 30-year-old’s stunning surging run which opened up the Leicester defence to give the Rams a 2-1 lead at the break in what was a very solid display from the Scottish international.

Both men are once again expected to line-up against each other on Wednesday, so expect a similarly important battle between the two at the King Power Stadium.

Tom Ince vs Christian Fuchs

Derby forward Tom Ince caused the Leicester defence a few issues in the first leg, and has since then found the net again to increase his confidence levels ahead of Wednesday night.

The former England Under-21 international netted his tenth Championship goal of the campaign in their 3-0 success over Ipswich on January 31, although like many Rams players struggled to have much of an impact against Newcastle last time out.

Nonetheless, Ince is clearly confident, and when he’s in a confident mood, he’ll always look to take defenders on with his pace and trickery.

And there’s no doubt that, if he saw Christian Fuchs’ display against Manchester United on Sunday, he’ll be relishing the chance of taking the former Austrian international on at the King Power Stadium.

30-year-old Fuchs seriously struggled to deal with United full-back Antonio Valencia down the side, and got completely lost when trying to play offside for the visitors’ third goal.

Like much of the Leicester backline, Fuchs is clearly low on confidence and out of form, so Ince will look to exploit that on Wednesday night.